Background The proportion of women undergoing induction of labour (IOL) has risen in recent decades, with significant variation within countries and between hospitals. The aim of this study was to review research supporting indications for IOL and determine which indications are supported by evidence and where knowledge gaps exist. Methods A systematic scoping review of quantitative studies of common indications for IOL. For each indication, we included systematic reviews/meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies and case control studies that compared maternal and neonatal outcomes for different modes or timing of birth. Studies were identified via the databases PubMed, Maternity and Infant Care, CINAHL, EMBASE, and ClinicalTrials.gov from between April 2008 and November 2019, and also from reference lists of included studies. We identified 2554 abstracts and reviewed 300 full text articles. The quality of included studies was assessed using the RoB 2.0, the ROBINS-I and the ROBIN tool. Results 68 studies were included which related to post-term pregnancy (15), hypertension/preeclampsia (15), diabetes (9), prelabour rupture of membranes (5), twin pregnancy (5), suspected fetal compromise (4), maternal elevated body mass index (BMI) (4), intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (3), suspected macrosomia (3), fetal gastroschisis (2), maternal age (2), and maternal cardiac disease (1). Available evidence supports IOL for women with post-term pregnancy, although the evidence is weak regarding the timing (41 versus 42

Background— Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus are at risk of heart failure. Specific therapeutic interventions for diabetic heart disease are still elusive. We aimed to examine the impact of improved glycemic control on left ventricular (LV) function in these patients. Methods and Results— A total of 105 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (aged 54±10 years) and poor glycemic control received optimization of treatment for blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol to recommended targets for 12 months. LV systolic and diastolic function, measured by LV global longitudinal strain (GLS) and septal e′ velocities, were compared before and after optimization. At baseline, patients had impaired LV systolic (GLS −14.9±3.2%) and diastolic function (e′ 6.2±1.7 cm/s). After 12 months, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) decreased from 10.3±2.4% to 8.3±2.0%, which was associated with significant relative improvement in GLS of 21% and septal e′ of 24%. There was a progressively greater improvement in GLS as patients achieved a lower final HbA1c. Patients achieving an HbA1c of <7.0% had the largest improvement. The 15 patients whose HbA1c worsened experienced a decline in GLS. Patients who improved their HbA1c by ≥1.0% had a significantly higher relative improvement in e′ than those who did not (32% versus 8%; P =0.003). Baseline GLS, decrease in body mass index, and treatment with metformin were additional independent predictors of GLS improvement. Conclusions— Improvements in glycemic control over a 12-month period led to improvements in LV systolic and diastolic function. This may have long-term prognostic implications.